DURHAM, N.C. - The Duke swimming and diving team travels to Charlottesville, Va., to face Virginia on Sunday, January 18. Recently, GoDuke.com sat down with senior swimmer Chris Cirillo to learn more about the Newport News, Va., native.

GoDuke.com: What has been your proudest moment at Duke?Chris Cirillo: My proudest moment at Duke was last year. I had two seasons of kinda disappointing swims and then I managed to have my first good time drop where I dropped a second and a half in my 100 backstroke.

GoDuke.com: What is the most misunderstood thing about swimming?CC: Probably the time put into it. Everybody assumes all sports have similar time inputs, but I really feel like with swimming, in addition to the hours, we've got a lot of early mornings. It's a pretty tough schedule.

GoDuke.com: What has been your favorite part about being a Duke student-athlete?CC: The friendship with the team. You get closer to people when you're working hard with them and you go through things together. It makes you closer with the people you do this stuff day in and day out with.

GoDuke.com: What has been your favorite class at Duke?CC: I took a class last summer - a marketing and management class. That was the most fun and I want to do something with marketing now because of that class.

GoDuke.com: What is your favorite spot on campus?CC: Since they put in ABP (Au Bon Pain) that's been kind of nice because I've always been looking for a place to get deli sandwiches.

GoDuke.com: Are there any words of wisdom you'd like to pass along to freshmen and future Blue Devils?CC: Obviously when you're here, you're going to be working hard. Find something that you like, something that's enjoyable and something that helps you relieve the stress because if you let it build up, it gets pretty tough.

GoDuke.com: As a kid did you know what you wanted to be when you grow up? What do you want to be now?CC: When I was a kid, I always thought I wanted to be a marine biologist because, being a swimmer since I was six, I'd always had a big fascination with the water. I kind of grew out of that. I think I want to do something with marketing, but I'm not quite sure.

GoDuke.com: Who would you choose to be your mentor?CC: I really do think my dad in that regard. Obviously a lot of people can say that, but my dad is such a good person. He always does, not necessarily what's best for him, but what's best for the people in our family, the people around him. And it's really special to me.

GoDuke.com: If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do?CC: Replace my car. My car is terrible. It is now 15 years old, so I'd like to get a new car. Other than that, take a vacation somewhere warm.

GoDuke.com: If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?CC: The ability to fly. I feel like you could do a lot with that - see a lot of things, do a lot of stuff.